Using the recovery from hurricanes Gustav and Ike to illustrate improvements in the government's emergency readiness, FEMA Administrator David Paulison touted reforms in his agency during a speech today to the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce.

"One of the basic lessons we learned in Katrina was the need for pre-planning and pre-positioning," Paulison told a luncheon crowd at the New Orleans Airport Hilton in Kenner.

"Before Katrina, FEMA had no preparedness mission -- none whatsoever. And you saw it here very clearly in the lack of response from the federal government and from the state and from the local governments, quite frankly. The whole system was reactive. It was not proactive. We waited for a disaster to strike, and only then did we consider our options, and they were very limited."

This year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency improved its grasp of unfolding events with a new team of front-line officials who reported on conditions in the path of the storms. By contrast, Paulison said, the agency relied on cable television news networks in 2005.

And having trains, buses and airplanes on standby to transport residents before landfall allowed for a more comprehensive evacuation in the run-up to Gustav, he said.

"During Katrina, buses were only ordered after the levees broke and after the Superdome was full of people," he said. "We were not going to let that happen again. We were going to make sure that the resources that we needed, supplies, were on the ground here prior to landfall."

In the aftermath of this year's storms, Paulison said, the agency also used enhanced contacts with businesses to monitor the return of services, such as gasoline stations, grocery stores, restaurants and hotels.

"I don't want to come out here and make you think that I'm bragging about FEMA," he said. "That's not the intent. We have made a lot of progress. But I need to say right up front we have a lot of work to do. The past three years, we have worked very, very hard to rebuild this organization."

Mark Waller can be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7056.